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Enzo Maresca has said he does not focus on the record transfer fees paid for players, insisting the market has become “crazy”.

The Manchester City manager matched the British transfer record by spending £125m on Enzo Fernandez this summer, after already paying £116m for Elliot Anderson, but said he will not assess either player by the size of their fee.

Maresca spent £301m on new midfielders, including Morocco international Ayyoub Bouaddi, and committed more than £400m on fresh signings in his first transfer window in charge.

However, he made it clear that the transfer sums are not his main concern, saying: “I don’t pay much attention to the price because I don’t pay the money. It’s more about good players.”

Manchester United, who host City on Sunday, also signed three midfielders this summer, though at a lower initial cost of £148m.

Maresca added: “The ones who arrived here and joined United are all top players. That’s the most important thing. How much the club paid for them? I don’t think it’s correct to judge players on how much we pay because the market is crazy.”

Maresca also praised City for the way they have moved on from the departures of Rodri and Bernardo Silva by bringing in Fernandez, Anderson and Bouaddi.

He also highlighted how successfully City have managed to replace major players in recent years.

He said: “I feel very lucky because these three players arrived, the three midfielders, Enzo, Eliot and Ayyoub. And I also said that this club, when [Sergio] Aguero left, everyone was worried, Erling [Haaland] arrived, Fernandinho [left], Rodri arrived, David Silva [left], [Kevin] De Bruyne arrived.

“So one of the big achievements of this club has been to replace players and it's not easy. Before, the club was Txiki [Begiristain, the former director of football] when he was here, now the club with Hugo [Viana]. So for sure I feel very lucky because it's not easy to replace these kind of players, they are top players.”